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Operation -- Annihilate! (episode)
The Deneva colony is attacked by neural parasites that cause mass insanity while the crew of Enterprise search for a way to stop them. Summary The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) approaches Deneva. Captain Kirk is concerned; Uhura has been unable to reach any transmitter on the planet. Spock's research has revealed that a pattern of mass insanity has been spreading in a straight line through this part of the galaxy, and Deneva is next. Sulu picks up a ship in sensors. The small craft is on course directly for the Denevan star, and does not appear to be out of control. Kirk orders a warp 8 interception course. The ship is out of range of the tractor beam. The Enterprise pursues. Finally, they make contact: seconds before the ship burns up, the pilot cries out "I did it! It's finally gone! I'm free!!". Kirk forms a landing party including himself, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Yeoman Zahra and Bobby. They are struck by the curious lack of people; in a city of 100,000 people, no one is visible. Until, a few minutes later, they are attacked by four men who, even as they charge, scream "Go away! We don't want to hurt you!" But, with their crude clubs, they try anyway, forcing the landing party to stun them. An attitude inconsistent with actions. Then McCoy discovers they unconscious men's nervous systems are violently active -- as if they're being somehow stimulated. A scream draws them next to Kirk's brother's lab. Kirk's brother, Sam, lies dead on the floor. Aurelan, Sam's wife, is hysterical, and their child Peter is unconscious nearby. Evidence suggests something has been trying to force its way in, despite the fact that the sensors showed nothing on Deneva that didn't belong there. Aurelan, in terrible pain, tells Kirk that "things" came, eight months ago, on a ship from Ingraham B. As she tries to answer Kirk's questions, she experiences more and more pain, until McCoy is forced to sedate her. The things use the Denevans as their arms and legs, and are forcing them to build ships. They control their hosts with pain. Aurelan's last act is to implore Kirk not to let the things go any further; this effort costs her everything she has left, and she dies. Kirk rejoins the landing party; he knows there is some sort of creature present, but the landing party has not yet discovered anything beyond a curious buzzing. Entering a building where they heard this sound, the landing party discovers strange creatures. Looking like little more than loathsome blobs of jelly, they emit an unwholesome buzzing, and employ a crude, wingless flight. A phaser at force 3 -- sufficient to destroy most organisms -- barely affects these creatures, even after several seconds of exposure. And, the creatures do not register on Spock's tricorder. Kirk orders the landing party out of the infested area; as they leave, a creature strikes Spock, leaving a strange puncture wound. McCoy removes a small strand of tissue, then, over Nurse Chapel's objections, he closes the wound. The creatures attack by stinging; they leave behind a piece of this tissue that rapidly infiltrate's the victim's entire nervous system, far too completely for conventional surgery to remove it. Spock recovers consciousness, charges out of sickbay and storms the bridge. His goal: take the ship to the surface, despite knowing the impossibility of this -- the Enterprise can't land. Spock is ultimately returned to sickbay, where McCoy makes another grim discovery. The K3 indicator, a measure of pain, is very, very high. The reason for the madness is confirmed: victims are in such agony that their minds eventually break under the stress. Spock, recovering consciousness, now claims the ability to control the pain. But after his visit to the bridge, Kirk isn't sure. Spock, conquering the pain, breaks out of sickbay and plans to visit the planet's surface. Scotty, acting on Kirk's orders, refuses to transport him. A scuffle breaks out, and when Kirk appears, Spock explains that his plan is to retrieve a creature for study. He believes that since his nervous system is already infiltrated, there is little more the creatures can do to him. Kirk is convinced; Spock beams down to collect a sample. Spock returns with the sample and begins to study it. Immediately, he realizes that the creature resembles, more than anything, an enormous brain cell. Kirk catches on immediately: these creatures aren't separate animals, they're all parts of a single entity, connected in some mysterious fashion. This is how it resists phase fire: each part draws strength from the whole. McCoy's efforts to find some method to kill the creatures fail. Heat, radiation, nothing kills it. Kirk knows that if they can't find a way to kill these creatures, he will be forced to destroy Deneva to prevent the spread of the creatures. A million people will die, if nothing can be done. Kirk cannot let the creatures spread, and won't kill the million Denevans. He demands a third alternative. The key lies in exploring the properties of a sun. The Denevan was free of the creature moments before he died; something in the sun killed it. It's not radiation, it's not heat -- could it be light? Kirk thinks it is. McCoy rigs a test cubicle, puts the sample creature inside, and confirms the theory: high intensity light is fatal to these creatures. Spock enters next; it's necessary to see what will happen to tissue that has infiltrated a victim. Spock volunteers to enter the cubicle. This test, too, succeeds: the blinding light frees Spock of the creature, and the pain -- at the cost of his sight. Spock, exiting the cubical, remarks that it is an equitable trade -- the closest he comes to revealing how much pain he has been experiencing. And then the true tragedy is revealed: lab tests indicate that the creatures are vulnerable only to a specific subset of the light spectrum: ultraviolet light is its Achilles heel. Despite this, the answer is at hand. Kirk orders satellite control to deploy a constellation of 210 ultraviolet satellites at 72 miles altitude, permanent orbit. The satellites are turned on; the creatures begin to fail, to fall, to smoke and to die. Ground stations on Deneva quickly make contact; the creatures are dying everywhere. Spock returns to the bridge; he can once again see. It seems that an inner eyelid, an hereditary trait of Vulcans, protected his eye automatically. Background Information *The call sign for Sam Kirk's private transmitter was GSK-783 (subspace frequency 3). (Per the DVD). *This episode features the ''Enterprise'' not only engaging to warp 8 while in a star system, but on a course directly for the system's sun. *It is mentioned that there are 14 science labs aboard Enterprise. *The Vulcan inner eyelid is mentioned again in ENT: "The Forge" *Filmed at TRW's futuristic headquarters in California. * Deneva, as seen from space, is one of the most beautiful planets Westheimer Effects Company created for the original series. * It's a bit illogical that Kirk gets so angry at McCoy for Spock's blindness. It was Kirk, after all, who was pushing for an immediate test to drive the creature from Spock's body. * William Blackburn, an extra on the show from The Corbomite Maneuver to the end of season three, can be seen in the background in at least three different uniforms in this show. * Wah Chang designed and constructed the parasite creatures. * This is the first time McCoy's lab is seen. Different components of sickbay were added over the first season, such as the decompression chamber seen in Space Seed. McCoy's lab contains one of the life-support cannisters used on the Botany Bay. Links and References Main Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scott * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Majel Barrett as Christine Chapel * Eddie Paskey as Leslie Guest Stars * William Shatner as George Samuel Kirk (uncredited) * Joan Swift as Aurelan Kirk * Craig Hundley as Peter Kirk * Dave Armstrong as Kartan * Maurishka Taliaferro as Zahra * Fred Carson as a Denevan * Jerry Catron as a Denevan * Gary Coombs as James Kirk (stunt double) * Bill Catching as Spock (stunt double) * Unknown actor as Bobby (uncredited) References 2265; Beta Portolan; Beta Portolan system; candle; Deneva; Deneva colony; Deneva system; gravimetric pull; Ingraham B; inner eyelid; K3 indicator; Levinius V; neural parasite (TOS); Starbase 10; subspace transmitter; Theta Cygni XII; tri-magnesite; tritium; ultraviolet satellite; Vulcan. Category:TOS episodesde:Spock außer Kontrolle